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battery or alternator powered stick welding

I am thinking about making a home made stick welder for occasional onsite road call repairs. I've seen YouTube clips of people making them out of a series of batteries and others running on alternator power. My question is, is this any less safe then using a welder? I want to make one and test it out but also don't want to die trying. Please let's stick with facts on this one

There's no reason that a home made welder should be particularly dangerous with one exception. If you use an autotransformer, that is, a transformer with only one winding which will have taps to pick off the desired voltage, you do run a significant risk of having a lethal voltage at one of the terminals. Whether you do would depend on how the transformer is wired to the power source.

That aside, you should be able to make your own welder. Now, the question is what quality of weld you'll be able to produce and how easily you'll be able to strike and maintain a welding arc. If your goal is simply to be able to stick two pieces of steel together, then a home-brew unit will work. If you're looking for a quality weld with proper penetration and uniform bead then you could be in some trouble.

Yeah, I know there are lots of videos on U-tube showing guys making sparks with their home made welders, but few, if any, of them actually show the results of the process.

If you want a cheap welder, then look to one of the low-end imported things. They'll weld and probably do a better job than your home-made unit will. And if your time is worth anything at all, then you're better off to get a store-bought welder, no matter how humble. You can pick up a name brand 120 volt MIG welder on Craigslist for only a couple hundred bucks, and a name brand "buzz box" for less than that.

You may still want to try to "roll your own" just to prove the point. Nothing wrong with that but then put it away and go find a real welder.

These welders are based on the output of the Alternator and then they use that little box on top. Now I have installed these in veh., alternator, throttle control and that box but I do not remember what all was in it. I did have a customer that took the design and build his own "box" and run in off of batteries in his fishing boat. Buy one then make your own to resell, great for 4 wheelers.

battery or alternator powered stick welding

Thanks, I thought I would try two batteries first. Most u-tube videos show three batteries but my experience(or lack of) tells me that 36v at x amps( cca of average car battery is 500 x3) is REALLY HOT!
That's why it freaks me out a little

I built one of the Zena welders years ago

I built on years ago using the Zena welder, it did weld nice the only issue was the belt didn't last a long time. I used a 12 HP motor and it would take every once of power out of it if turned up all the way. It would burn 7018 1/8 very good. I liked having the amps and on/off on the stinger. I used for about 4 years and sold it, at times it would be nice but I already have why to much stuff. Always wanted to build my own but life just takes all my time.

Moderator, Why Censor?

I posted up a link from Jeep Forum.com on a guy that had a write up on making a welder from an alternator. For some reason the moderators wouldn't let it post?? I have absolutely no idea why! You might try a search at that site, this guy had a write up with pics and all. IIRC it was under the "Fabricator Shop" area of the web site.

EDIT: Got an e-mail from the moderator, they went ahead and posted the link above.